


A Brief Evening at Castle Ylisse

by nyaha



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Gen, castle espionage, mild exposition, somewhat inaccurate lore, unintentional bleeding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 03:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9949829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyaha/pseuds/nyaha
Summary: Henry, a nonchalant Plegian commander, ignores direct orders from King Gangrel and wanders around Castle Ylisse on the night of an attempt on Exalt Emmeryn's life. He sings some songs, makes a friend, and discovers the consequences of his unnatural pain tolerance.Oh, and he commits treason that ultimately sabotages his country's assassination attempt. No big deal.





	

**Author's Note:**

> my Henry History is a little rusty, so there's some inaccuracies here (for example: henry initially encountered panne outside of ylisstol, probably). i hope you enjoy regardless.

Lavish walls, castle halls, and the tip-tip-tap of Henry’s merry feet all danced together, their joyous harmony ringing throughout the castle, that which was otherwise so dreadfully, dreadfully still. _Today,_ Henry thought, _is such a dreadful, dreadful day!,_ and his feet echoed his soul, light and heavy and dark and joyous all at once. 

The duality of both himself and his circumstance was curious indeed, amidst the closely calculated assassination of the Ylissean exalt Emmeryn, the very saddest day for the country of Ylisse and the very happiest day for the country of Plegia. Plegia was Henry’s home, and Ylisse’s rather self-proclaimed enemy (aside from the legitimate political tensions of ten years prior, but that was neither here nor there, Henry was merely a child then! Had he still had both of his kidneys back then?). In this oxymoronic vein, he felt similar; how was one who loved both blood and war to be happy _or_ sad when blood was shedding and the war was ending? He let out a sigh, light and heavy and dark and joyous all at once, and his feet were ever-moving, going tip-tip-tap, tip-tip-tap, tip-tip-tap.

It was at that moment directly before his sigh that Henry realized he was supposed to be organizing his troops as backup to the band of thieving assassins hired to kill the exalt (just in case, of course, for Plegia hired only the best of the best of thieving assassins). His tip-tip-tapping came to an abrupt stop, and he pondered and pondered, and then remembered with an _a-ha!_ that he really could not care less. His spiteful subordinate with ten years more experience and half his talent would surely get the job done, or, in even more preferable circumstances, mess it up, so why contribute to a mission that you were hoping to fail anyway? That was Henry’s logic, and he would stick with it to his very end—which he, for the record, was welcoming at any time.

It was the moment directly after his sigh that Henry realized he didn’t know where in the world he’d ended up.

“Hello?” he called out, waving his hand here, there, and in most other conceivable directions. “Is anyone there?” Normally, most army commanders sneaking around the crown palace of the country he was at war with would not be shouting out “hello”s and “is anyone there”s and “come out and kill me, baby, I’m ready for it!,” but Henry was not most army commanders. He was also not particularly wise or tactical, for that matter, but he still had his shining Henry-brand logic about him. He figured that if an Ylissean soldier saw him in his rather obvious Plegian gear, they may get a teensy bit defensive, sure, but if he was nice enough, they’d be nice right back and show him the way out! Henry was rather optimistic about these kinds of things.

The castle, in all its dreadful silence, said nothing in response. Henry decided to press on, then, and continued to call out, “Helloooo! A friendly passerby is here! Passing by!” He walked on, tip-tip-tap, tip-tip-tap, looking around as well as his artificial magic eyesight could allow, and—

Oo.

Oooh, what was _that_ he saw?

Hidden amongst (what he assumed were) the shadows was a figure he couldn’t quite recognize, sprawled against the meeting point of wall and ceiling like a spider in wait. It was humanoid, for certain—long floppy ears, also for certain—pretty fuzzy-looking, if only he were tall enough to reach and pet it. Whatever it was, it was up there alright, and Henry wondered if it knew that he knew it was there. (Henry had a habit of staring away from what he was actually looking at. It was partially because he was lacking in manners, partially because he had no eyes, wholly because he thought his head might pop off if he let it sit for long enough and then suddenly moved it.)

Henry, problem-solver he was, shouted out, “Hey! You, mystery man!” 

The figure stayed silent.

Henry, slick dude he was, then followed up with, “What’s shakin’, bacon?” That was Henry’s favorite pickup line.

The figure did not move.

“I know you’re there,” Henry sang. He waved his arm _Hello, hello!_ , and hopefully it was in the shadow’s general direction.

“Leave, vermin,” the figure said at last. “I have no business with you.”

“So mean!” said Henry. “Ohh, but what if I told you I was an Ylissean guard and I’m arresting you now?”

“Clearly you are not,” the figure replied. “No royal guard in their right mind would adorn themselves with symbols of Grimleal.” 

“Hey, Ylisse is a free state, especially when you’re rich and cool!” said Henry. “I’m a royal guard, and therefore both of those things, so I’m allowed to practice my own religion, aren’t I?” Henry laughed at his own words. He knew deep in his heart that he was none of those things, but oh, how fun it was to play.

“Begone with you,” was all the figure had to say.

Henry kept laughing, and it was almost infectious. “Please come down?” he asked. “Intruders have to stick together, you know!”

“Intruders with different goals have no business together,” said the figure. “Your country is at war with mine.”

“So you’re from Ylisse!” Henry exclaimed. “Hey, we’re getting places!” Henry was getting tired of standing and talking, so he started jiggling around instead. “How do you know I’m Plegian, though? See, Grimleal is oft practiced in certain parts of southern Ferox as well—“

“That is enough from you,” snapped the figure. “Begone.” Man, this mystery man sure was harsh! Or maybe, Henry thought, it was a mystery woman, because now that Henry was jiggling and thinking about it, their voice was kinda sultry and womanly. _Neat._

Henry was suddenly struck by a genius, genius, genius idea. He smiled eternally wider and said, “Hey, you like Ylisse, huh? Wanna know a fun tip?”

“I have little interest in humans, but this land is my birthplace,” the figure explained. “I have even littler interest in whatever ‘tip’ you may offer me.”

“We’re about to assassinate the exalt.”

The figure stiffened, and then with grace and sneak it jumped down, landing swiftly on all fours before pushing itself back up onto twos. _She’s even more fuzzy-looking than I thought!_ , Henry happily noted. Maybe if all went to plan, she’d let him pet her…

As Henry hesitated, the woman lunged forward and grabbed hold of Henry’s neck, lifting him up into the air. “Why do you tell me this?” she asked. “Do you plan to trick me?”

Henry coughed, choked, and gagged, but he didn’t much struggle. “Haha, no—ghh—way—“ He gasped for breath, but this fuzzy lady’s grip was so strong! His throat clawed for air, but none came. “P’mme—ghhk, down, down!” 

The strong Ylissean stranger did not put him down, but lightened her grip enough for him to speak. “ _Why do you tell me this?_ ” she demanded.

Henry hacked a little, then went right back to grinning and giggling. “It’s true, no lies! You know what it’ll do, you know? The exalt will die, and the war will be _over!_ You guys don’t wanna lose, right? So, a helpful tip—go to the throne room and make sure she doesn’t get dead!”

Slowly, the mystery woman lowered him down to the ground. “You do not lie?”

“Not at all, not at all!” Henry saluted for emphasis. “I always tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!” He laughed at his own words again, because that was also not true. This time it was, though. This time!

The woman hesitated briefly, before asking, “Whose blood is that?”

“Blood?” Henry felt around a bit, before noticing that the whole abdomen of his shirt was oddly wet and sticky. “Ohh, yeah! That’s probably mine. Must’ve got all stabbed without me noticing! Weird, huh?”

“And you are not concerned?” the woman asked.

“Nahhh,” said Henry, waving his hand dismissively. “Happens all the time! I’ll be just fine.”

“…and you tell no lies?” the woman asked again.

“Not a one!” Henry said, with the confidence of a Thanksgiving goose.

“Then,” said the woman, “I will take your words and run with them.” She fell back to all fours and bounded down the hall, but not before looking back and saying, “You will be punished for your deceptions.” Ohh, her purely sinister tone sent chills up Henry’s spine! What fun.

“Good thing I don’t have any!” Henry called back, waving, watching as she darted away, away, away. Silently, he prayed to the great dragon Grima that his plan would be successful, but not all that much, because he wasn’t really _that_ religious—he just thought Grimleal clothing was cool. He liked the little eyes all over them. He laughed, heartily, light and heavy and dark and joyous all at once, and he headed along his way to nowhere, still as lost as he ever was.

In the distance, Henry heard screaming, sword clanging, and booming voices shouting things like, “You will never lay your hands on her!” and “Pick a god and pray!” Henry stopped to listen, and as he heard screams melt to silence and swords exchange fleshy sheaths, he couldn’t help but laugh. Oh, how lovely war was! How lovely it was, and how he loved it so.

Henry’s laughter melted to silence, too, and with a _thud!_ he collapsed to the ground, blood still flowing freely.

**Author's Note:**

> some alternate titles:  
> > Henry Gets the Shit Kicked Out of Him, Part II  
> > Henry Makes a Friend  
> > Henry Does Not Make a Friend  
> > Treason for the Whole Family  
> > Never Be Afraid to Lie About Your Religion  
> > A Bunny, or a Spider?  
> > War Funds  
> > Satanism Goes Viral  
> > Henry and the Ominous Blood Splatter  
> > General Ambivalence  
> > Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle (For Your Life, Because the War is Still Out to Get You)  
> > Everyone Explode Now  
> > AAAHHHGGHAHAHAHAHAAAA  
> > AO3 user nyaha’s Guide to Recycling Writing  
> > War Crimes & War Rhymes


End file.
